Context of comment:We are glad to announce that we have added 14 further coastal hills this time for the counties Waterford and Wexford. The new hills include Knockavelish 124m just south of Waterford town which is the highest of the new additions.Additional points:As usual we would say it is likely there are errors in the new data. Position for example or names. We are also interested in finding Irish names.

Context of comment:Simon, you have asked for feedback ref the new website feature and here's my twopence worth.
First you note that new users find the site hard to get into. It's no easier for the rest of us: it's just that we've got used to its ..... idiosyncrasies
I promote it to any poor soul backed on to an arete and have done so for all the years I have been on board; and to a man/woman, they revert to me with how very good the concept and info are but also how very user unfriendly it is.
It certainly doesn't have the slick urgency of high end perfume advertising or cars or exotic hols - but maybe that's​ not what you want.
On both your and my experience of feedback it is definitely high time there was an "intro page" at very least and with the basic offerings on show - and that's what we now have.
So initiative 100%, concept 100%, direction 100% - but application ... ?
The new menus came to me as an overlay to an already very busy and complicated page - and made me reach for the Annadin. Frustration more than migraine - because really all it needs is for the site to open on a simple still background of some mountain icon with these overlays on it.
A welcome to mountainviews before you go burrowing into its entrails.
So in conclusion, albeit just mine, a very good thing but realised to its full potential perhaps with some tweaking.
Lastly - not sure about your observation that the experienced user does "not always realise there are easier ways to do things".
It is my long experience in the communication industry that if the target doesn't get it, it's not because the target is dumb; it's because one hasn't communicated it as effectively as one could.

Context of comment:.
Hi, you will find a new feature shortly which Introduces and explains MountainViews.
It appears automatically when you start using the website and hopefully will shed light on how to get the best out the system.

A. If you are an experienced user.
Experience has taught us that even people who have been using MV for years do not always realise there are easier ways to do things. Have a look at the explanations and the detailed tutorials. You can close the introduction with a single keystroke If you are logged in you can close the introduction for 30 days at a time.
Let us know if the tutorial can be improved.

B. GUESTUSER
First time users have often told us the website is hard to get into. We hope this introduction will make it easier. There are short introductions to the main things you can do on this website and some longer tutorials.

You can close the introduction with a single keystroke. We would welcome feedback. You will need to create an account (very easy), login and post your suggestions in this forum.

Restarting Introduction
Click on Home => Display INTRODUCTION

Thanks
Thanks to magicstep for work on this introduction.

Correction made
If you used this feature and found that the "Close Introduction for 30 days." didn't seem to work, then note: it's fixed now.

jackill2018-02-09 12:48:08

donalhunt - track markers

Context of comment:If you type the grid reference the track markers(Point A etc.) will be added automatically.

donalhunt2018-01-07 17:55:20

Track markers

Context of comment:Adding markers to descriptionsMessage:In some track descriptions, I see reference to locations that appear on the map as markers (e.g. park at point A, ascent to point B, head towards point C). Is there a summary of how to specify these when writing descriptions (my attempts are failing)?? Thanks!

simon32017-11-13 09:27:22

Picture: Original track/1779 top left now split into three hill routes. (Contract pics)

Splitting a track into more than one.

Context of comment:jgfitz has pointed out that track/1779 had wildly inaccurate figures and probably represented a corrupted file.

This .gpx file was originally uploaded by me in Jun 2012, the early days of MV's track sharing system. There was some error in the gpx file causing a long red line, however the main issue here is that the uploaded file included three distinct summits. A better representation would so show the three visits to summits as separate tracks.Message:Splitting a track
As announced in October 2017 there is now a means of editing a shared track, either a new one or an old one as in this case. As explained in https://mountainviews.ie/motleyviews/suggestions/comment/7993/ you can trim a track. To split a track into more than one piece the procedure is to upload it as many times as necessary and remove the bits before and after the wanted bit.

So we need to get the original track again. You may have the track as you got it from the GPS or you can export it from MountainViews. Taking the export option and using track/1779 as an example:

Step 1: Export the track to a text file on your PC. This is done by using the "Export Data" option under a track. Select the "Obtain all stored track .." option.

Step 2: For the example track/1779 do Tracks, Walks=>Upload a track. For a walking track that includes a lot of driving as this one did, Specify main activity as Walking, browse to the saved .gpx file and upload.

Step 3. The example track/1779 included walks up three hills Cullenagh, Clogrennan and Tinoran. Trim the track: Edit Description=>Optional: Refine start, end & activity Mark the Start and End of the track for each of the hills by dragging the Start and End arrows to the map and following the steps that appear.

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each of the hills.

For the example track I ended up with

track/1779 Cullenagh
track/3646 Clogrennan
track/3648 Tinoran

Which deals with the original point from jgfitz and turns the original into routes for the three hills, discarding all the driving between them.Additional points:Do please have a go at the "Optional: Refine start, end & activity" feature if you are uploading new tracks or want to revise old tracks.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY MountainViews track sharing feature has been an enormous success since its inception in 2012, with 2000 tracks shared. However we could use voluntary effort to improve tracks, remove duplicates, split some as described here etc. Contact admin - at - mountainviews.ie if you would like to help.

jgfitz2017-11-13 01:00:00

Tinoran Hill - Trk 1779

Context of comment:Bug reportMessage:This hike is described as being 11.4 km. When downloaded as GPX file, it is 77.25 km. The downloaded version looks unusual, so the uploaded file must have been corrupted in some way.

simon32017-11-03 09:48:33

MountainViews now using secure website.

Context of comment:MountainViews has changed from being "http://mountainviews.ie" to "https://mountainviews.ie"

When you access it you should now see a closed lock symbol or similar beside the URL in your browser.

This means that communications between you and MountainViews are encrypted. There has been a move for some years on the part of the tech companies to move towards encryption particularly in the light of criminal scams and intrusive governmental surveillance.

Their encouragement towards website owners has included dropping the ranking of non-secured websites in search results and issuing dire warnings on login pages etc.

For independent and original websites such as MountainViews this represents quite a bit of work. However this work is now done and the website is encrypted.Message:In future in links to MountainViews please refer to it as:

https://mountainviews.ie

If you don't, the system will still handle your request through a redirect, however this slows your access down and causes more work for the website.Additional points:As always when code changes are made there are likely to be errors. In the case of this one, look out for pages that don't load or odd error messages. Let us know at admin at mountainviews.ie

Just to remind. A Coastal Hill is a hill of at least 50m with a drop from the top or prominence of 20m and which is within 1000m of the hightide mark.

Many thanks for member madfrankie for getting this data together.Additional points:Inevitably there are errors in new data like this. If you spot anything, let us know at admin@mountainviews.ie We are still working through errors spotted in the Mayo Coastal Hills added in August 2017

Context of comment:We have now introduced a means of separately logging that you have reached an island. This is in addition to reaching a feature on the island, usually the highest point on the island.

So were you to visit the island in the photo, you could indicate you had reached the island. That's one tick. If you also reached the top then you can tick that also. (Mind you in the particular case of this island, it looks like you'd have to be really keen on pinnacles.)

Also we have added an "Irish Islands" list which only shows islands and whether you have visited them. The position given for an island will be the highest point on the island (as far as we know it).

There already is the "Irish Island Features" list. It lists all places for which we have a record on an island. Currently the only places we have information for on islands are summits usually just the highest point, though in future we may have other coastal features like headlands etc.
Most islands have only one summit but a few such as Clare Island or Achill have several. Anyway, the revised island features list now allows you to mark whether you have visited the highpoint or the island.

One peculiarity you may note if you have visited islands and start ticking them off is that if you have marked visiting a summit on an island then you can't untick the visit to the island. Think about it: if you have visited the highpoint then you must have visited the island.

Of course all of the above only matters if you are visiting islands.Message:Have you ticked off a number of islands Sorry but you will need to go through what you have ticked and indicate whether you reached the highpoint or simply reached the island.

You can do this using the:

Irish Island Features list. at mountainviews.ie/lists/islandfeature

Here you will find for each feature two tick boxes, one for visiting the feature (highpoint) and another for reaching the island.Additional points:As usual this is a code change. There could well be errors in the recording of islands, in listing them and the count of visits on the Summiteers page. Let us know at admin - at - mountainviews.ie

Wilderness3 days ago.If you fancy a longer walk you can start at the car park just outside Grange at S309566. From here I walked clockwise round the Crag Forest Loop until I reached the Wellington Monument. I then joi...

Aidya week ago.I had a mixed day weatherwise, with dark skies, rain and flat light one minute, and blue skies the next, but it only added to the spectacular views to be had from the summit. If anything, the view...

Wildernessa week ago.I climbed this mountain coming from the West side from Oughtmore mountain. I've never tried it but I'm sure Spelhoagh can also be easily accessed from the Moneyneany Road on the East side as well ...